1. Understanding the Soil Ecosystem
Organic matter and humus
Physical factors: Soil structure and tilth
Chemical factors: nutrient cycles and balances
biological factors; The living soil community
2. Observing and Evaluating Your Soil
Recordkeeping
Monitoring tilth: reading the field
Looking beneath the surface
Evaluating biological health: looking at life forms
3. Soil Management Practices
Managing physical factors: drainage, irrigation, tillage, and
cultivation
Organic matter and humus management
Animal manures
Composting
Green manures and other soil-improving crops
Rotations
Using off-farm nutrient sources
4. The Marketplace and Organic Certification
Joe Smillie is the senior vice-president of Quality Assurance
International, a leading organic certification agency. He is
co-author of the books The Orchard Almanac and Rodale's
Chemical-Free Yard & Garden, and is a founding member of the
Organic Trade Association, and the International Inspectors Group.
He lives in Richmond, Vermont.
Grace Gershuny, in addition to her position on the staff of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program, has
worked for many years as an educator, organizer, and market
gardener. She is nationally known in the alternative agriculture
movement, is the author of Start With the Soil, and Compost,
Vermicompost and Compost Tea: Feeding the Soil on the Organic Farm
as well as co-author of The Rodale Book of Composting and The Soul
of Soil. She is on the faculties of the Institute for Social
Ecology and Goddard College, and lives in Barnet, Vermont.
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